Improvement in door-mats



WITNESSES.

N- PETERS. PHOTD-LITHGGRAPMER. WASHINGTON. D. C.

NYORBORNE BERKELEY, lvl'LllIE, VIRGINA.

Letters Patent No. 113,389, dated April 4, 187-1.

IMPROVEMENT lN DCORMATS.

The Schedule referred to in theseLetterlvPatent and making part of 'the same.

I, Noaeonnn BERKELEY, of Aldie, in thecounty of Loudoun and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful improved Door-Mat, of 'which the following is a specification..`

Nature and Objects of the Invention.

My invention is designed to permit a fresh or comparatively clean portion of the surface of a mat to be used at any time, and also to prevent the dirt there from being carried away and tracked about the house by persons passing in.

lt is constructed that the matting material may be renewed as often as required, avoidingthe expense of purchasing a new mat when the old material is worn out, as the frame, which is very simple iu'construction, and can be made at a small original cost, will last for years, while any one can appl-y the cornshucks or `other filling material to the frame, and

renew the same wheneveriit vmay Vbe necessaryor desirable.

The mat is of a cylindrical shape, and is mounted in a stand provided with a looking device, so that it may be allowed to rotate or held still, as desired. 'lhe cross-piece from which this is suspended forms a partial support for a person using the mat.

Description of the Acco'mpcmying'1)raufing.

Figure l, is a perspective view of the mat mounted on its stand, which is shown partly in section;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the mat-frame, the filling material being removed; and

Figure 3, a view showing the bolt in locking posi tion.

In the drawing like letters indicate corresponding parts.

General Description.

A is the mat, the frame of which is composed of two end-pieces a a, intermediate pieces a al al, longitudinal rods a2 a2, &c.,fpreferably of metal, for hold ing the pieces al al, &c.,'in position, and also assisting to retain the shucks or other filling in place.

as is a ro'd passing through the axis of the frame, and extending beyondl the end pieces a a sufficiently far to serve for journals when the mat is mounted in its frame. A

Screw-threads are cut on this rod near one or both ends, which carry a nut or nuts, by means of which the frame is tightened to irlnly compress and hold in place the shucks or other lling. By unscrewing the nut the frame may be taken apart when it is desired to renew the filling.

Thestand in which the mat is mounted consists of a box or trough, B, two 4nprights U C, and a crosspiece, D..

An additional box or trough, E, may also be provided for containingthe stand.

The uprights or standards O O havebearings or bushings c yo to receive the cylindrical ends ofthe rod a3, one or both of these bearings being slotted so as to permit the ready removal and insertion ofthe mat.- v

Near one end'of the cross-piece D a trigger `orV bent lever, d, is pivoted, having an attached wire, cl',

from which is suspended a bolt, F, forked or slotted at its lower end to t the square of the nut or lug a,

on which it usm lly rests.

By depressing the short arm of the trigger d the longer `arm is raised, lifting the bolt F, and allowing the mat to be rotated by the foot when. it is desired Ato use a fresh portion of its surface.

Turning the mat also` allows any dirt-Which had accumulated von top to drop into the trough beneath.

lVhen it is desired to replace the old filling of the vmat by. new material, it is lifted from its bearings in the frame, one of the nuts unseren-'ed and removed, one of the ends a and the intermediate pieces al al, Src., taken away, and a wisp of shocks, sea-mat, or other appropriate material inserted and bent around one of the rods a2, the ends .being outwardiy; a second wisp is then bent around another rod, and' so on until the first. tier is completed, when oneof the circular pieces al is placed over and slid down on the rods a a?, Sto.; a second 'tier of wisps is then inserted in a similar way; and the operation is thus continued untill the frame is full, when the end piece is put on and secured hy its appropriate nut. I heI ends of the *dlling may then be trimmed off if necessary. l

' The frame may he lled with two or more dilerent materials; for example, one side with corn-shucks and the other with some more soft andpliable substance, as sheepskin, so that the dirt may be partially removed by' the coarser material; and, on turning the mat half round, the shoes may be thoroughly cleansed by the. softer substance.

It is obvious that the frame and stand may, as well as the mat, be made of various materials, and that the same may be so designed as to render the whole a highly ornamental as well as useful piece of furniture.

Gearingor hands and pulleys may be so connected to the frame and mat-cylinder thatgthe latter may be rapidly rotated by treadle or otherwise.

' I do not claim broadly a rotating mat or footbrush, similar contrivances having been used before,

in combination with Scrapers; nor do l claim the trough B in combination with the said mat and its stand.

Claims. lever d, wire `d,` and bolt F, in connection with the I claim as my-invent'in* stanfil O D anl rotary mat A. substzmtallyv as l. The mat-stand or frame `O C D, with attached Spec] e' trigger and locking device, substantially as repre- NORBORNE BERKELEY'K sented and described, for the ply'ppses specified. -W'itnessesz I 2. The matffi'ame a al a? as, constructedl and zu'- Tao. M. BOYLE, ranged substantially asspecled. I WM. M. DAME.

.3. The combinationaudarrangement of. the-bent. 

